Upper Cook Inlet Commercial Fishing Announcement No. 6 opens commercial salmon fishing with set gillnets in the Kasilof Section of the Upper Subdistrict from 5:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 25, 2015.
Drifting will also be open in the Kasilof Section (not the Expanded Kasilof Section) from 5:00 a.m. until 7:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 25, 2015.
All areas and gear types, other than the Kenai and East Foreland Sections set gillnet fishery, will fish the regularly scheduled fishing period on Thursday, June 25, 2015, from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m.
The commercial set gillnet fishery in the Kasilof Section of the Upper Subdistrict will be closed for a 36-hour period from 7:00 p.m. Thursday, June 25, 2015 until 7:00 a.m. Saturday, June 27, 2015, as required in the Kasilof River Salmon Management Plan (5 AAC 21.365(c)(1)(B)).
The earliest the set gillnet fishery in the Kasilof Section could fish again is 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 27.
As of 12:00 noon on Wednesday, June 24, more than 98,000 sockeye salmon are estimated to have passed the Kasilof River sonar site. This represents the second highest passage estimate in the past 10 years (2006–2015) through this date. Passage of sockeye salmon continues at a rate greater than expected. The additional two hours of fishing time being provided to Kasilof Section set and drift gillnetters is intended to maximize sockeye salmon harvest and slow the rate of escapement of sockeye salmon into the Kasilof River by fishing the entire flood tide.
Set gillnet fishermen in the Upper Subdistrict of the Central District who own and operate two CFEC set gillnet permits may operate up to 210 fathoms of gear, except that no more than 105 fathoms may exceed 29 meshes in depth (5 AAC 21.331 (i) Gillnet Specifications and Operations).
Additionally, each set gillnet operated under this section with 29 meshes or less in depth must be identified at one end with a blue buoy that is 9.5 inches in diameter or greater.
